Wires of War
by StrangerXIII
Summary: The Gears make the COG machine move, but the Wires make it tick. Delta squad are assigned a mission that may well turn the tide of the war but they need the vital intel of a squad of conscripted, anarchic recon operatives known as Wires.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own shit. Sue me and you will be wasting your time_

**Prologue**

The tunnels were silent and pitch black. The darkness seemed to live, to breath, to move. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a soft thud. And another. Again and again. Footsteps. Within seconds the soft thudding had turned into an echoing barrage of noise. Fifteen fully armed Locust drones marched through the tunnel. The locust at the head of the formation stopped suddenly. The drones behind him followed suit. The leader scanned the tunnel with his cold eyes, searching for a sign of danger. Although they carried torches, most of the tunnel was engulfed in shadow. He was about to give the order to continue when; crack! The thunderous roar of an un-silenced COG ripshot rifle.

The leaders head exploded into a mix of blood, bone and brain tissue when the round tore straight through his skull. Before the drones could react; crack. Another shot and another drones head burst. They frantically scanned the tunnel, searching for a target so that they could return fire, or at least hold off the barrage of sniper rounds soaring at them. They had no time to take cover. The drones could smell fear. Their own fear as one by one each drone fell to the ground.

The tunnel was quiet again. Only the sound of dripping blood from the severed locust necks and heads could be heard. The floor of the tunnel was now almost completely red, mixed with blood stained bone shards and white brain tissue.

'Wires!' came a shout from small piece of rock protruding from high up the wall 'form up'. Moments later, four armed soldiers emerged from cover dotted about the tunnel. They wore standard issue COG Advanced Recon Operative kit. Nothing more than a pair of combat boots, trousers and shirts with several armour panels attached. They were light-weight and manoeuvrable, unlike the juggernaut kit of the COG gears. The soldiers' kits were flawed and damaged. Each was graphitised and customised in some way or another, but in the darkness of the tunnel the details were impossible to make out.

The Locust lamps were still burning dimly and the wires regrouped in the centre of the tunnel, amongst the blood and the bone of the massacred drones.

Each of the soldiers was armed with a ripshot sniper rifle, a 'splitter' sub-machine gun and a semi-automatic 'pup' pistol; nicknamed for its lightweight design compared to the cannon sized SNUB and boltok pistols used by the gears. Although lightweight, it was no less deadly as its design allows the magazine to be loaded with customised rounds; from armour-piercing to explosive.

'Another victory for Sera's finest' grunted one of the soldiers, a tone of spite at the name of his home.

'We're all impressed by your combat skills, Cooper' said another soldier sarcastically. His face was old and wise, as if medals and ranks had taught him nothing compared to the war itself. Sergeant 1st class. But it meant nothing down there in the tunnels; it was just a pin and a title. All that counted down there was surviving, which, in the sergeants old age, became harder and harder each day. The sergeant looked back up and spoke again, re-engaging his authority tuned tone of voice.

'Until we find an emergence hole that hasn't collapsed, we're never going to get out of these tunnels. Take what we need from the drones, we're moving out…'. A flash of light from down the tunnel interrupted his speech. The flash was blinding white and chased away the dark shadows throughout the entire tunnel, only for them to return moments later. The light was followed by the soft clatter of pebbles and rocks being shaken from the tunnel walls. The clatter was then joined by a trembling in the tunnel; even through the wires' combat boots. they could feel it beneath them. The entire tunnel was shaking. The wires all stared down the tunnel from where the flash had come.

'Sir, what are your orders sir…' one of the wires said, his eyes locked down the tunnel, his hands trembling slightly, finger on the trigger. The clatter of the pebbles and rocks grew louder and the trembling became stronger. A soft noise emerged from down the tunnel. A soft hiss which was barely audible above the raucous noise of the rocks falling. It began to get louder until it became a dull roar. Then, the light came back. White light flickered from down the tunnel. Just seconds had passed since the first flash of light, and now it was clear to the sergeant what had happened and he roared

'Bomb! Run! Now!'

The wires took action immediately and the entire squad began dashing at great speed down the tunnel away from the light. No matter how fast they ran or how much ground they covered the noise grew louder and the light brighter. The ground shook with such force the wires could hardly keep a strong foothold on the ground. Each step was a test of their balance and coordination.

The explosion was gaining on them at double the rate they were fleeing. The wires knew that unless they found shelter from the explosion soon, it would reach them, and do what a bomb does best.

* * *

well, thats basically just the introduction. have any questions? you wont have many but i hope you have some. show me some love so i know whether to carry on or not. if so, questions answred next time, more questions made to.

cya around


	2. Chapter 2

_Still don't own anything; still don't care if you sue me._

_Please people, if you read, please review just to tell me what you think no matter what you have to say. Please._

**Chapter 1:**

**Lies**

The outer walls of the Presidium were worn and cracked, trampled under foot by victim and villain alike during the Pendulum wars. During the Pendulum wars the Presidium was the primary command centre for the New European Alliance which was founded by the leaders of the old European Union from mother Earth when Sera was first colonised. When the newly formed country of Volkia staged an assault on the New European Alliance, the Volkian General bombarded the Presidium with mortar fire; destroying much of the outer structure. But that was almost twenty years ago, and a new war was in progress; but wasn't over.

The Presidium had belonged to the COG since they had taken over much of Sera towards the end of the Pendulum wars but was never used until Emergence day and lost their primary base of operations to the Locust. Now the Presidium was the last symbol of hope for the people of Sera and the headquarters of the COG for the fourteen years since Emergence day.

Despite the early hour of the morning and the dark layer of cloud above there was an abundance of activity in the streets surrounding the Presidium. People gathered in small groups and gossiped about the rumours which had come from within the Presidium itself; circulating them further. All that the people knew was that the COG had and important announcement to make and that citizens should report to the square opposite the Presidium. A King Raven flew overhead and over the Presidium, and slowly began its descent at the back of the fortress.

The landing pad had been prepared for the King Ravens arrival. Officers and recruits stood in attention as the door of the Raven slid open and a tired but determined Colonel Victor Hoffman clambered from the huge machine several recruits' eyes wandered toward the Ravens exit as Lieutenant Anya Stroud stepped through. There were very few women in the COG, but there were none as young or as attractive as she was. However, the recruit's eyes soon turned to the hulking figure of Augustus Cole as he emerged from the Raven; followed by Dominic Santiago and Damon Baird. The last to emerge from the Raven was Delta squad's sergeant, Marcus Fenix. He stepped out of the Raven and screwed up his scarred face as the sun briefly broke through the thick layer of cloud overhead and blazed directly into his eye. The brief moment of light soon disappeared and the landing pad became dark again.

The Ravens passengers followed suite as Colonel Hoffman marched through the halls of the grand building, barking orders and officers and recruits to prepare the front balcony which overlooked the square with a microphone wired into the Presidiums outer megaphone system. The halls of the mammoth building were once richly decorated, but all such lavish items had been sold during the Pendulum wars to help finance the New European Alliance's war effort. Every room was filled with something; ranging from computers and monitoring equipment to weapons.

'Everything is almost ready Colonel' said a technician who struggled to keep up with the Colonels pace without having to run 'but, just so we know, what are you planning to announce?'

'Well were would be the surprise if I told you?' growled the Colonel 'now get out of my sight and don't come back unless you tell me everything's running better than you could have hoped, now go!'. Delta squad and Lieutenant Stroud followed behind the Colonel closely, awaiting orders. The colonel abruptly halted and turned to face his followers.

'Listen to me, Delta squad' the colonel snapped 'today you are the biggest heroes in the history of the COG, good for you' he said sarcastically. 'All of the Jacinto Plateau will be all over you, and you'll be asked a lot of questions. But here's what your gonna do. If anyone asks you how you feel about what you've done, your gonna say your proud to serve. If anyone asks you why you did what you did, your not gonna say 'cos of orders, your gonna say because you believe in your government. And if anyone asks about your losses, you keep your mouth shut. Lieutenant Kim and Private Carmine will be respected amongst everyone in the COG, but if any of the citizens find out that you gears aren't the gods we make you out to be, everything will go to shit. Understand?'

Delta squad looked disgusted, but refused to say anything. The colonel was about to become a leader who would go down in history, if anyone ruined it for him there would be hell to pay. The technician returned to the Colonel and saluted him

'Everything's ready to go sir' the technician muttered quickly.

The colonel nodded and signalled his followers to follow him again as he started marching towards the front of the building. He turned a corner and began walking toward a huge pair of doors made of grey wood. They were inscribed with all sorts if patterns and symbols. Directly in the centre, spanning across both doors was a huge COG symbol. Two recruits rushed to open the doors as the colonel approached but he merely pushed them aside and pushed the heavy doors open with ease. He marched out onto the balcony overlooking the square and stood before of the microphone which had been set up. Delta squad and lieutenant Stroud lined up on either side of him. There was a short period of noise and motion coming from the hundreds of people who had gathered in the square. The colonel raised his right hand as if to ask for silence and the noise and the motion came to a halt.

'Earlier today, your gears successfully deployed the lightmass bomb; we have destroyed the enemy stronghold.' The colonel said calmly. A thunderous wave of cheers and shouts came from the crowd as people began to clap and cheer. Families and lovers embraced each other and tears of joy were shed. 'This war has exacted a heavy price from all of us.' He continued and silence returned 'It has torn our world apart. But you have my word that we will rise again!' the crowd were ready to explode in cheers and shouts once more, and the colonel was ready to bask in the glory and respect he would receive from the people when suddenly;

'Liar!' came a shout from the crowd. The colonel scanned the crowd looking for the source of the outburst, anger spread across his faces cold features.

'Liar!' came the shout again, but of another voice. The muttering grew louder but couldn't overcome the next shout.

'Liar!'

The colonel clenched his fists around the microphone stand so hard that it snapped in two.

'Whoever it is that dare challenge my word, stand forward and show yourself to me!' roared the colonel so loud that the microphone was not necessary.

There was more muttering in the crowd as it began to separate and allow someone through. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd and stood defiantly, with a look of disgust on his face.

'Who do you think you are to challenge my word?!' the colonel roared once more.

'Private Jack Smith, Spectre squad.' The silence returned to the square as everyone in the crowd hung on his every word

'You blackmailed me into fighting for you. You abandoned my squad in the Locust tunnels. And YOU killed our sergeant!'

* * *

_So that's the first chapter. I know its short but I prefer writing short chapters rather than long ones, it's easier and keeps my ideas fresh in my mind and allows me to develop the storyline between chapters. Slow chapter but important for the story things will get rolling in next chapter. Leave me some nice things or just whatever you think about it please, thanks._

_Keep rockin_


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